1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a camera device having an internal antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent digital cameras have been provided with an antenna and communication module to allow users to transmit and receive captured still image and video data, as well as other types of information. Because the digital camera can store photographed data at a storage device such as a computer memory, CD-ROM, or USB memory by connecting to a computer or can attach photographed data to an e-mail and transmit the image data to a desired third party, applications for digital cameras have increased.
Nowadays, in the digital camera, as an aesthetic element has a large influence on a product sale, a product's exterior design is recognized as an important an element as a product's performance. Further, as many functions gradually converge to the digital camera, parts increase, but users gradually prefer a design of a simple structure. Therefore, nowadays, digital cameras having various functions have been developed according to various consumer preferences, and a digital camera having an internal antenna module is a typical one of the newly developed digital cameras.
An antenna module housed within the digital camera enables direct multimedia data communication through the camera device. For example, the antenna module may transmit data such as an image and a moving picture photographed through the camera device to another electronic device through a Wi-Fi antenna, or receive position information using satellite information received from a satellite through a GPS module.
A camera device having such a conventional antenna is described with reference to FIG. 1. Conventional camera device 10 has a structure in which only the major front and rear surfaces of a body 13 are made of metal. An upper surface 11, a lower surface 15, and one side surface 12 of the camera device 10 are non-metallic.
In order to achieve a maximum electromagnetic wave gain of a GPS antenna mounted in the camera device 10, the GPS antenna should be mounted near an uppermost surface (i.e., at an uppermost area) of the camera device 10. Therefore, in the conventional camera device 10, the entire upper surface 11 is non-metallic, and in order to realize a requisite antenna radiation performance, a portion of the upper surface 11 is separately covered by injection molding. A conductive material such as a metal deteriorates radiation performance of an antenna by shielding electromagnetic wave radiation and thus a portion adjacent to the antenna should be composed of a non-conductive material.
Further, electromagnetic waves of a Wi-Fi antenna are generally vertically radiated, i.e., the beam peak in a normal use position points vertically. Therefore, in the conventional camera device 10, in order to maximize the gain of the Wi-Fi antenna, the entire upper surface 11 and lower surface 15 of the camera device 10 adjacent to the Wi-Fi antenna is covered with an injection molding material. However, the production process to achieve this construction is not simple and requires a long production time.
Further, a parting line occurs between the metal and the injection molding material, and such a parting line is an element that may seriously tarnish an external appearance of a product and is an important benchmark that can represent a finish level of the product.
Further, when a plurality of antennas are disposed distributed in several areas within the camera device 10, as in the conventional art, the plurality of antennas should be separated by a predetermined distance from an electrical/electronic element such as a main printed circuit board (PCB) or a battery and metal parts inside the camera device. Accordingly, by employing distributed antennas, a problem occurs in that efficiency of an internal layout of the camera device 10 deteriorates. This problem negatively impacts a trend of decreasing a size and a thickness of the camera device.
Therefore, while optimizing various functions converged to a digital camera, development of a camera device that can provide a simple impression and an aesthetic impression to a product external appearance is needed.